Pressure regulator and cut-off



(No Model.)

0. J. MOGANN.

PRESSURE REGULATOR AND GUT-OEE.V

Patented Api. 5,1887.

liNiTnDv VSTATES PATENH Ormea..

ownN J. MCGANN, or rirrsnune, rnNNsvifvANIA.

PRESSURE REGULATOR AND CUT-OFF.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 360,607I dated April 5, 1887.

' Application filed November 2f), iBSB. Serial No. 220,161. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that l, OWEN J. MCGANN, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented or vdiscovered certain new and useful Improvements in Pressure Regulators and Out-Offs, of which iinproveinents the following is a specification.

In the accompanying` drawings,which make part of this specification, Figure 1 represents, partially in vertical central section and partially in elevation, a device embodying the principles of my invention, certain port-ions of said device being broken away in ,order to more clearly illustrate the construction of the same. Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section taken through the device on" a plane indicated by the line m, Fig. l. Fig. 3 represents in perspective the valve detached. Fig. et is a similar view of a portion of the device which is provided with the supply-ports that are to be opened and closed by the rotary valve.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to reduce opposition to the cutting off or letting on, wholly or partially, of the fluid-` supply in a device or apparatus wherein a rotary apertured valve is automatically operated to open or close or varythe area of one or more fluid-supply ports, or, in other words, to render the valve sensitive and readily responsive to the means employed for operating it, so that while pressure upon the valve from the supply side may be considerable, the valve may nevertheless be operated with but coinparatively little power, and hence easily controlled from what is commonly termed the delivery or low-pressure77 side.

Other objects are to provide certain details tending to the general efficiency ot the device, as will hereinafter appear.

To the attainment oftheforcgoing and oth er useful ends my invention consists in matters hereinafter described,aud particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, the shell or casing Ais in the nature of an elbow-joint for a line of piping, such construction being convenient when the valve is connected with and operated from a movable abutment, B, that is in turn controlled by fluid-pressure delivered past the rotary valve C.

ranged at the pressure side-that is to say, bc-

tween an apertured valve-seat and the source of iiuid-supply-is arranged at the delivery side ot' the supply ports or apertures d. These supply ports are formed through a disk-partition or analogous abutment, D,which is located in the fluid-supply passage opposite the supply side of the rotary apertured valve.

rlhe rotary valve is provided with any desired number of ports or apertures c, and is constructed with a stein or spindle, c, having a tapered or conical end, ci. This tapered or conical end ofthe valve-stem is stepped in a bearing, E, arranged at the delivery side of the valve and adjusted in position to bring the apertured valve in opposition to the apertured plate or partition D, through which the supply-ports d are formed. The bearing E is desirably made adjustable iu position, so that the valve can be adjusted with relation to the apertured plateD with a degree of nicety which shall permit the valve to beset up to the same as closely as may be desired, and at the same time avoid any undesirable degree of frietional contact between the two. By such arrangement the apertured part or plate D, in place of being at the delivery side of the valve as a seat therefor, is located at the supply side of the valve, whereby its presence will offer no appreciable opposition to the movements of the valve.

The seat or centrally-located bearing-point, which is herein opposed to pressure directed against the valve from the supply or highpressure side thereof, is the step or seat in the bearing-piece E in which the tapered or conical end of the valve-stem is stepped, which construction opposes comparatively litt-le frictional resistance to the rotary action of the valve, and hence permits the valve to be operated with ease, although pressure against the valve from the supply side thereof maybe considerable.

In order to keep the valve true and properly centered it is desirably provided with an axially-arranged stud or pin, o3, that is received in a suitably-formed socket, d', in the apertured plate or partitionl).

With regard to the details of construction of the device or apparatus herein represented,the stem or spindle of the valve is provided with a laterallyextending arm, F, which is pivotally connected with a tubular stem, b, of the movable abutment B. 'Ihe movable abutment Bis controlled by fluid-pressure against its under side and by the action of a spring or weight on its upper side7 a weight, b, for depressing the abutment being herein shown.

The abutment-chamber G is connected with the duid-passage from a point at the delivery side of the rotary valve and through the medium of the tubular abutment-stem I), which latter works through a side opening in the pipe or shell A, and is provided with both an inlet and an outlet port, its inlet-port b being arranged to open into the fluid-passage of the pipe or shell A, while its outlet-port b is arranged to open into the abutment-chamber. XVith such arrangement. the valve can be closed when the movable abutment is brought to either end or limit of its permitted movement. lVhen the pressure at the delivery side of the valve is at the desired uniform standard, the movable abutment will occupy.

its intermediate position, and thereby maintain the apertures c of the valve in register' the under side of the movable abutment.

Should there be a total absence of fluidpressure, owing to a failure in the source of supply, the action of the weight or spring will force down the movable abutment, 'thereby closing the valve. Should, therefore, any burners connected with and supplied from a pipe or pipes conneeted with the delivery end portion a of the fluid-passage of the present device be left open, escape of gas through such burners, in the event of a resumption of supply in such main supply-pipe as this device may be connected with, will be prevented. Under the last-mentioned condition the valve will be practically locked, and in order to open the same any suitable means for permitting the movable abutment to be raised by hand could be provided, or a by-pass valved passage, H, leading from the supply to the delivery side of the valve, may be employed, as herein illustrated.

In connection with the foregoing` arrangement of movable abutment and hollow stem therefor I have herein provided a safety device consisting of a spring-controlled valve,I, arranged to open and close the hollow abutment-stem b at a point above the movable abutment, and connected with the abutmentchamber at a point above the movable abutment is a pipe having a suitable relief or safety valve,K. The passage through the abutmentstem provides at its upper end a convenient guide for the stem of valve I,while said stein may be made angular in crosssection,so as to provide appropriate fluid-passages when the valve is raised from its seat at the upper end of the said stem. Preferably, a perforated cap,

L, is fitted upon the upper end of the abutmentstem b, or upon the abutment itself, as may be desired, which said cap constitutes a convenient shell or casing for both the valve I and the spring by which such valve is held down upon its seat.

Should,from any unforseen cause,the valve or its operating mechanism become inoperative or,when closed,leak,an undue pressure at the delivery side of the valve will open the valve I,so as to permit the escape of the fluid into the abutment-chamber at a point above the movable abutment, from whence the fluid may pass out through the valved relief-pipe K, which can be extended to discharge into the open air.

At orabout the point where the rotary valve C is to be located I prefer to divide the pipe or casing A,so as to provide a section, a, that may be conveniently constructed with the apertured plate or partition D and with a strainer, M. A simple mode of construction is to form the plate D of a radially-slotted disk having in one side a socket for the stud ci41 of the rotary Valve to turn in, and on its opposite side having a hollow perforated hub or boss, which serves as a strainer, the part or member thus formed being fitted in the section c of the pipe or shell, as illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein the two sections of the pipe or shell A,whieh are flanged at their meeting ends,are shown bolted together.

The foregoing-described device or apparatus constitutes an exceedingly efficient means for controlling or regulating the supply of natural gas to buildings. It is understood, however, that with obvious mechanical modifications of the parts for automatically operating the valve the latter could be employed with advantage for controlling or regulating other duid-supply-such as steam or water-it being obvious that the valve-stem could, for example, be conneeted with and operated from afloat without the exercise of further invention.

I am aware that the feature of a rotary Valve operated by a lever attached to the valvespindle is an old expedient, and also that such valves have been balanced by duid-pressure admitted into a chamber at one side of the valve so as to act in opposition to the fluidpressure at the opposite side of the valve.

I am also aware that Patent No. 352,382 illustrates a pressure regulator and rcut-off wherein a rotary valve is balanced by attaching its spindle to a flexible diaphragm arranged to cover a chamber which is located at the delivery side of the valve and connected by a by-pass with the main supply pipe or passage at the supply side of the rotary valve, and that in such connection it is proposed to couple the valve stem with the stem of a weighted movable abutment or diaphragm arranged within a chamber having a passage formed around the stem of the diaphragm and opening into the valved Huid-passage at the delivery side of the rotary valve, which latter is provided with apertures and arranged at the supply side of a similarly-apertured seat through which the valve-spindle passes, said valve-seat being at the delivery side of the valve. The differences between my improvement and such devices will be apparent, and I desire to be understood as neither broadly claiming a rotary apertured valve combined with an apertured seat nor the arrangement shown in said patent.

Vhat I claim as my invention is I. The rotary valve arranged for controlling the iiow of fluid through a Huid-supply passage and provided with a spindle stepped `at one end in a bearing located at the delivery side of the valve, substantially as described, whereby, when the valve is subject to pressure from the supply side, it shall be sustained as against such 'pressure from a centrally-located bearing-point whereon the said end of its spindle is arranged to turn, substantially "as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination, with the apertured plate or partition D, located in a iiuidsupply passage, of the rotary valve C, located at the delivery side of said plate or partition, and a bearing, E, wherein the end of the spindle c of said valve is stepped, substantially as and for the purpose described.

The rotary valve C, disposed for controlling the iiow of fluid through a fluid-supply passage and having its spindle stepped in a bearing at the delivery side of the valve, in combination with a movable abutment subject at one side to the pressure of fluid delivered past the valve and on its opposite side subject to the action of, a weight or spring, and connection between said valve and movable abutment, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The rotary valve C, disposed with relation to the iluidsupply passage substantially as described, in combination with the movable abutment subject on one side to the pressure of iiuid delivered past the said valve and on its opposite side subject to the action of a weight or spring, and the tubular abutmentstem b, provided with inlet and outlet ports, one of said ports being arranged to open into the duid-supply passage at the delivery side ofthe valve and the other to open into a chamber wherein the'said movable abutment is confined for operation, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a valve disposed for controlling the iiow ofiuid through afinidsupply passage, of the movable abutment B, subject on one side to the pressure of fluid delivered past the said valve and on its opposite side subject to the action of a weight or spring, the hollow stein b, applied to the movable abutment and connected with the said valve, a valve applied to establish a reliei` passage through the hollow abutment-stem under conditions hereinbefore set forth, and a safety pipe or passage, K', for discharging fluid let into the abutment-chamber through the said relief-passage, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

OVEN J. `MCG-ANN.

Witnesses:

M. J. MGGANN, CHAs. G. PAGE. 

